GCSE and A Level exams Cancelled in 2021

Students in England will no longer sit formal exams in GCSEs, A Levels or AS Levels in the Summer 2021 sitting, following the announcement from Government.

Instead of these summer exams, teacher judgement will be used to grade students, in a similar way to 2020’s grades. However the detail of what will be involved in making these centre assessed grades (CAGs) hasn’t been agreed.

The move has been made because of the continuing disruption to schooling and education. It follows the implementation of the third national lockdown across UK. It ends weeks of speculation about what will happen to English exams, following similar decisions in Scotland and Wales at the end of 2020.

IMPORTANTLY this decision does not apply to iGCSEs.

They run in more than 100 countries, which is why the UK move doesn’t immediately apply. And Cambridge and Pearson (Edexcel) exam boards have yet to announce what they are going to do. It’s reasonable to expect they will follow suit.

It is difficult to second guess what will be involved in teacher assessed grading, or what if any moderation will be involved. It is clear from talking to those in the profession that while work to date will be important, all students should be taking every opportunity to demonstrate the grades they are capable of.

Now is the time to really knock it out of the park.

That’s going to be incredibly difficult, with motivation levels inevitably low. But it isn’t just about showing what you could get. If your child has ambitions for further or higher education then it is really important that they don’t stop studying. Some experts are concerned about the impact that the summer holidays can have on “learning loss”. Imagine then what 9 months out of real education could do.

One way to keep going is to maintain a routine. While your child might not be gearing up to an exam, we still have plenty of information on setting up a good schedule. And please do get in touch if we can help.